Figure 3. An IDR’s sensitivity to the physicochemical environment depends on its intrinsic conformational biases.

(A) The extent of change in chain dimensions (gray shaded region) in response to a change in mean-field self-interaction strength tuned by the physicochemical environment (green shaded region) depends on both the underlying sequence and the polymer’s behavior prior to the change. From equivalent changes in interaction strength, very different changes in polymer dimensions can emerge. (B) Chains at the midpoint of the coil-to-globule transition are most sensitive to changes in the solution environment. (C) Comparison of experimental data and analytical theory demonstrating the broad applicability of this framework. Adapted from [19].